The Beauty of Multiples

(Above) 10 pig cutting boards of various shapes, sizes and woods.(Above) 10 wire and wood hangers from 1890 to 1930.(Above) A lovely, sublime collection of shovel handles of various ages.(Above) A collection of wire frames from catcher’s masks, 1890 to 1940.(Above) 18 lithographed toy ray guns, 1920s to 1950s(Above) A collection of gradated industrial calipers, arranged two different ways.(Above) 8 pairs of antique turned croquet posts dating from the late 1880’s to 1940’s.

HOW MANY TIMES IN MY LIFE have I been drawn to the power and beauty of multiples? Too many times—with too few display areas, that’s how many. I have always looked at it this way. If one is wonderful, then two is better and three is awesome so four must be fantastic and five is....well, you get the picture. Only with multiples can you begin to see and appreciate the differences, the similarities and the sublime changes in design.

Years ago, I got addicted to the iconic pig cutting board. I know, I know. Alone, with just one, I was looking at something rather plain and everyday. At flea markets I would see one, then another and I’d see them often— but never many at once. So, I got to thinking—surely there wasn’t just one stencil that every kid in every 8th grade shop class in every school in America used? So, I bought one—then another, then another—always looking for unique and different ones—until I had... so many that my wife thought I was nuts. With no great massive wall space to view them in—and several hundred dollars later, I laid them on the kitchen floor and just marveled at what I had done.

They were great: some pigs had short snouts, some had painted edges, some had drilled holes for eyes, some had painted ets, some had rivets; some had short feet, other had long feet, tails and no tails; ears, no ears, short ears; fat pigs, skinny pigs, long weiner-like pigs... I LOVED IT!

There is a great on-line store I have to tell you about. It’s called: www.lostfoundart.com and these people were cut out of my own DNA, I believe. All of the above things, including the piggies, are from their site. It’s great and you should go there.